Jagannath Pranna Prathista at Hanuman temple
The Hanuman Temple in Alpharetta and the Oriya Society of Atlanta celebrated the Pranna Prathista of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Devi Subhadra on March 23rd through 25th, 2012. About 500 Oriyas, Bengalis, Tamils, Telugus, and others were present each day as chants of “Jai Jagannath” reverberated in the air. Amidst the holy Vedic chants by Swamiji, the auspicious conch blowing, the traditional ghanta naad (peal of the bell), devotees had the opportunity to see Sri Mahaprabhu.
The rituals before the pranna prathista (breathing life into the deity):
Kalash parikrama was performed to sanctify the place.
1) (Kalash Jatra) - Swamiji first chanted mantras to dispel evil spirits and cleansed the surrounding of the temple with water carried from the Chatahoochee river in brass kalashas carried around the temple by 15 ladies.
Homam uses fire to energize and protect the environment.
2,3) (Sankalpam and Homam) - Swamiji chanted mantras and shlokas to invite devas and positive energies into the temple.
The Lords are represented, born from Mother Earth, covered with paddy.
4) (Birth) - Lords Jagannatha, Balabhadra, and Subhadra were born from the womb of Dharti, symbolically covered in nine types of paddy.
Their eyes are ceremonially opened.
5) (Eye Open Ceremony) - Swamiji opened the eyes of the lords after they were born and placed them on the laps of three women symbolically representing the mothers of the lords.
The first feeding.
6) (Feeding) - With sloka chanting the Lords were fed milk while lying on the lap.
Bimbasnana: bathing their reflection in a mirror.
7) (Snana) - The Lords were cleansed with milk, ghee, and dahi, then took snana on mirror (bimba) reflection, and were put to bed for some rest.
Devotees (with Swami Adyananda Saraswati) wait for darshan (beholding) after the snaha.
8) (Nyasa) - They were given energy from the universe from the chanting of slokas for two hours while they slept. In the morning they were placed on the ratna singhasana (ratna – gem, singhasana – throne).
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